Who We Are
2009 Young Alumni Award Recipients
David M. Backman, A94
David Backman has stayed happily connected to the university since graduating. He worked at the Mayer Campus Center for five years, advising undergraduate student leaders in leadership development, fiscal management, and event planning. Three months after moving to California, he became president of the San Francisco Tufts Alliance when the previous president moved east. He oversaw a six-fold increase of the SFTA’s outreach and events in just his first year, building a tradition of programming throughout the entire Bay Area, melding social, educational, active citizenship, and professional networking themes. Still serving as chapter president today, Mr. Backman also spearheaded a recent recruitment drive to build the steering committee and linked dozens of disconnected alumni back to the university through social networking tools, culminating in 25 successful SFTA events last year. Serving on the TUAA Council since 2003, he currently co-chairs the Regional Programs Committee, co-chaired the two most recent Regional Leaders’ Symposia, and served on the Communications, Nominations, and Sesquicentennial committees. Concurrently, Mr. Backman worked at the University of California, San Francisco, advising medical students and developing curricula. After seven years, he was honored with the UCSF School of Medicine’s second annual Outstanding Staff Service Award in 2007, open to all nonfaculty employees at the entire institution, selected by the graduating students for his “exemplary dedication to the class.” After leaving UCSF, he founded a private advising and counseling service for medical students from across North America.
Sister Anna L. Kupin, J00
Sister Anna Kupin is a Roman Catholic nun of the order of the Sister Servants of the Most Sacred Heart of Jesus. She currently works at Hogar Sagrado Corazón (Sacred Heart Home), an orphanage run by the order that provides permanent housing for 120 girls and young women (from infants to young adults), victims of abuse or abandonment, in Montero, Bolivia. Following graduation, Sister Kupin spent one year volunteering at the Hogar, quickly immersing herself in the community and improving her Spanish in order to communicate with both the young girls and her peers. While there, she helped to coordinate the Madrina Program, which partners American sponsors, called “madrinas” or “padrinos” (Spanish for godmother/godfather), with young girls at the orphanage. She lived in the orphanage with the girls, sharing meals, playtime, and all the experiences of their everyday life with them. After a year spent back in the United States, Sister Kupin felt called by God to return to Bolivia and join the order of nuns responsible for running the orphanage. Sister Kupin is an embodiment of the true volunteer spirit, dedicating herself to the works of education and human development, serving the poor, and helping women at risk to achieve a more promising future.